diff --git a/rdb_test.go b/rdb_test.go
index 48f4463..8c1dde6 100644
--- a/rdb_test.go
+++ b/rdb_test.go
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ func init() {
 
 // setup connects to a redis database and flush all keys
 // before returning an instance of rdb.
-func setup() *rdb {
+func setup(t *testing.T) *rdb {
+	t.Helper()
 	client = redis.NewClient(&redis.Options{
 		Addr: "localhost:6379",
 		DB:   15, // use database 15 to separate from other applications
@@ -31,40 +32,57 @@ func setup() *rdb {
 	return newRDB(client)
 }
 
-func randomTask(taskType, qname string) *taskMessage {
+func randomTask(taskType, qname string, payload map[string]interface{}) *taskMessage {
 	return &taskMessage{
-		ID:    uuid.New(),
-		Type:  taskType,
-		Queue: qname,
-		Retry: rand.Intn(100),
+		ID:      uuid.New(),
+		Type:    taskType,
+		Queue:   qname,
+		Retry:   rand.Intn(100),
+		Payload: make(map[string]interface{}),
 	}
 }
 
 func TestPush(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup()
-	msg := randomTask("send_email", "default")
-
-	err := r.push(msg)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("could not push message to queue: %v", err)
+	r := setup(t)
+	tests := []struct {
+		msg *taskMessage
+	}{
+		{msg: randomTask("send_email", "default", map[string]interface{}{"to": "exampleuser@gmail.com", "from": "noreply@example.com"})},
+		{msg: randomTask("generate_csv", "default", map[string]interface{}{})},
+		{msg: randomTask("sync", "default", nil)},
 	}
 
-	res := client.LRange("asynq:queues:default", 0, -1).Val()
-	if len(res) != 1 {
-		t.Fatalf("len(res) = %d, want %d", len(res), 1)
-	}
-	bytes, err := json.Marshal(msg)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("json.Marshal(msg) failed: %v", err)
-	}
-	if res[0] != string(bytes) {
-		t.Fatalf("res[0] = %s, want %s", res[0], string(bytes))
+	for _, tc := range tests {
+		err := r.push(tc.msg)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		res := client.LRange(defaultQueue, 0, -1).Val()
+		if len(res) != 1 {
+			t.Errorf("LIST %q has length %d, want 1", defaultQueue, len(res))
+			continue
+		}
+		if !client.SIsMember(allQueues, defaultQueue).Val() {
+			t.Errorf("SISMEMBER %q %q = false, want true", allQueues, defaultQueue)
+		}
+		var persisted taskMessage
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(res[0]), &persisted); err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if diff := cmp.Diff(*tc.msg, persisted); diff != "" {
+			t.Errorf("persisted data differed from the original input (-want, +got)\n%s", diff)
+		}
+		// clean up before the next test case.
+		if err := client.FlushDB().Err(); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
 	}
 }
 
 func TestDequeueImmediateReturn(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup()
-	msg := randomTask("export_csv", "csv")
+	r := setup(t)
+	msg := randomTask("export_csv", "csv", nil)
 	r.push(msg)
 
 	res, err := r.dequeue("asynq:queues:csv", time.Second)
@@ -89,7 +107,7 @@ func TestDequeueImmediateReturn(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestDequeueTimeout(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup()
+	r := setup(t)
 
 	_, err := r.dequeue("asynq:queues:default", time.Second)
 	if err != errQueuePopTimeout {
@@ -98,11 +116,11 @@ func TestDequeueTimeout(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestMoveAll(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup()
+	r := setup(t)
 	seed := []*taskMessage{
-		randomTask("send_email", "default"),
-		randomTask("export_csv", "csv"),
-		randomTask("sync_stuff", "sync"),
+		randomTask("send_email", "default", nil),
+		randomTask("export_csv", "csv", nil),
+		randomTask("sync_stuff", "sync", nil),
 	}
 	for _, task := range seed {
 		bytes, err := json.Marshal(task)
@@ -128,9 +146,9 @@ func TestMoveAll(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestForward(t *testing.T) {
-	r := setup()
-	t1 := randomTask("send_email", defaultQueue)
-	t2 := randomTask("generate_csv", defaultQueue)
+	r := setup(t)
+	t1 := randomTask("send_email", defaultQueue, nil)
+	t2 := randomTask("generate_csv", defaultQueue, nil)
 	secondAgo := time.Now().Add(-time.Second) // use timestamp for the past to avoid advancing time
 	json1, err := json.Marshal(t1)
 	if err != nil {